Inconvenient Marriages, or What Happens When Ethnic Minorities Marry Trans-Jurisdictionally According to Their Self-Chosen Norms

Utrecht Law Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, June 2010

Queen Mary School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 47/2010

18 Pages Posted: 20 Mar 2010

See all articles by Prakash Shah

Prakash Shah

Queen Mary, University of London

Date Written: March 19, 2010

Abstract

This article presents evidence of a trend in British immigration law practice of denying recognition to marriages which take place trans-jurisdictionally across national and continental boundaries and across different state jurisdictions. The article partly draws on evidence gleaned from the writer’s own experience of being instructed as an expert witness to provide opinions of the validity of such marriages, and partly on evidence from reported cases at different levels of the judicial system. The evidence demonstrates that decision making in this area, whether by officials or judges, often takes place in arbitrary ways, arguably to fulfill wider aims of controlling the immigration of certain population groups whose presence in the UK and Europe is increasingly seen as undesirable. However, and quite apart from the immigration control concerns underlying such actions, the field throws up evidence of the kinds of legal insecurity faced by those who solemnize marriages under non-Western legal traditions and calls into question respect for those traditions when they come into contact with Western officialdom.

Suggested Citation

Shah, Prakash, Inconvenient Marriages, or What Happens When Ethnic Minorities Marry Trans-Jurisdictionally According to Their Self-Chosen Norms (March 19, 2010). Utrecht Law Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, June 2010, Queen Mary School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 47/2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1575002

Prakash Shah (Contact Author)

Queen Mary, University of London ( email )

Mile End Road
London, London E1 4NS
United Kingdom

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